Minooka High School board member submits resignation

MINOOKA – District 111 Minooka Community High School board member Michelle Mullen has submitted her resignation after state and county officials said she has a conflict of interest in serving on the board.

Mullen, who has been on the board since May, submitted Monday a resignation letter effective March 20. The school board meets that day and could vote on accepting the resignation.

The Grundy State’s Attorney’s office and the Illinois Attorney General’s office said Mullen can’t serve on the board since she is a teacher with the Grundy County Special Education Cooperative. The district’s superintendent, Jim Colyott, is on the Co-op’s executive board.

Mullen said she didn’t think there was a conflict but felt she had to resign when the state’s attorney’s office suggested she could face criminal charges.

“I’m very disheartened about the decision,” she said. “I really enjoyed my time there. I was trying to make a difference with the students.”

Grundy County Assistant State’s Attorney Perry Rudman said his office indicated there are several ways to remove a person unlawfully holding an elected position, including bringing felony charges if that person knowingly served unlawfully.

After she was elected, the state’s attorney’s office sought the attorney general’s opinion.

“The problem that the schools face is that the action of a board member who is not lawfully serving cast doubt on the business of the board,” Rudman said.

Colyott did not immediately return a message left Tuesday.

• This story has been corrected. The original article incorrectly stated that Michelle Mullen and her lawyers met with the Grundy County State’s Attorney’s Office before she was elected as a Minooka Community High School board member. They did not meet.